


Long Lost

by YeolMonster



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Regency, BAMF Myungsoo, Drama & Romance, Getting Back Together, Gothic, GyuYeol are married, Incest, Inspired by Taboo (TV series), M/M, Mystery, Omega Verse, Sibling Incest, Slow Build, omegas have no rights
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-02-27 07:34:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13243521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YeolMonster/pseuds/YeolMonster
Summary: Myungsoo inhales, smiles, and turns toward the man. “You must be Sunggyu.” He says.“And you are?” Sunggyu walks right past him, not bothering to shake hands, but quicker to stand by the side of his husband. His omega.“You must have heard of me.” He answers; “But we were never properly introduced. I’m Kim Myungsoo. Sungyeol’s brother.”





	1. Myungsoo

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY NEW YEAR MY FRIENDS!
> 
> New year, new project for me. I'm 80% done with this story. Currently it stands at 20k~ so I'm hoping it will reach around the 25k+ words, but we'll see how it goes.  
> Okay so what is this? Well, basically it's a loosely based rip-off of the TV series Taboo (naked tom hardy with tattoos, that's all im saying), except I changed everything up a bit (a lot), so it will be more suitable, make more sense, etc. It turned out much more dramatic than I anticipated, and I actually spent so much time on world building, but zero time on actually explaining it in the story since it didn't seem very relevant? But now that I've puked out most of it onto a doc, I do feel like some explanation is due, so here goes:  
> The world is an apocalypse omega-verse, but you don't really feel it? There's a patch of land, let's say the size of Ukraine or Turkey (just two countries from the top of my head, it's not location-wise) that still flourishes, everything beside it is considered dead/radiated/barren. So the people of that land, called it Homestead, built a wall around it, so the horrors of the wasteland won't destroy it. That was many generations ago. Basically if you're not a citizen, you're not allowed in, but a lot of people make do inside the walls with scraps/etc they find beyond the wall. Because of the big war, it's sort of like everybody reverted to gothic/regency times, there's no wide-spread electricity, people still use carriages with horses, etc and guns are also pretty expensive and new. Omegas have no rights of their own, but there's very few of them left, so each alpha like fights for his omega with his teeth bared. Betas have to fortune to own some rights, but Alphas have much more rights and each well-off family has like a piece of the wall it guards.   
> Story itself takes place when Myungsoo, the Alpha son of a Lord in Homestead, comes back from beyond the walls, after a 6 year absence, for his father's funeral.   
> None of this is too relevant to the story itself, it becomes clear the more you read, anyway, but if you do want to have some background, there you go. It's perfectly fine if you don't read this monster of an info dump. 
> 
> HUGE SPECIAL THANKS TO BANANNIE.

 

The funeral home Sungyeol chose is agreeable. Good, respectable neighborhood. With a large burial ground behind it. Perhaps just further away from home than one would expect. 

The spot isn’t bad, as well. Right beneath a big old oak. 

The flower arrangements are purple and white. The ceremony is beautiful.

Sungyeol always had good taste. 

There are many people inside the back room. All mourning the loss of their beloved father. Nobody notices him slipping in, he is just another face in the crowd. 

Nobody recognizes him.

Nobody pretends to, either.

He’s dead to them. Dead for 5 years now. He might have been dead the minute he stepped out of the safe walls of Homestead. 

He watches from afar as they lower the casket into the ground, doesn’t want to disturb the polite farewell sequence. Not on his behalf. His father never truly loved him, either way, so he wouldn’t have much to say and it wouldn’t matter to him if he’s there as well. It’s Sungyeol he loved. His favourite omega son. 

After that they file back in to have a drink, but Myungsoo can’t help it, so he bids his father goodbye. He collects a handful of dirt, and lets it slide between his fingers onto the casket. 

He won’t be missed. 

He’s not sure why he returns back into a room that’s filled with hypocrites and liars, his teachers from the academy who said Alphas rule the world, his dad’s friends, who turned their back on him the minute the mines dried from gold.

Perhaps there was some task he wanted to accomplish, or a man to speak to, but then he sees Sungyeol. 

He’s smiling; but not in a way that Myungsoo remembers him smiling. The corner of eyes don’t crinkle. When he notices him, his stare passes right by him, without stopping. 

And then his smile fades, and his body tenses. He did notice him, after all.

He doesn’t dare to glance back. He’s probably afraid that Myungsoo will still be there when his eyes will return to the spot. 

And he’ll be there. 

Because he’s not a ghost. Not yet. And if he is, he came back to haunt him. 

Sungyeol touches the ring on his finger - then hides it. Another man touches his nape. Another man whispers in his ear. 

Sungyeol smiles again, the fake curt smile, then nods and ducks to the other room. 

Myungsoo follows him. 

It’s quiet here. A kitchen. The door creaks behind him as it closes. Sungyeol’s clutching on a bowl of some kind, his breathing erratic. 

“Did you really forget my face?”

Sungyeol covers his ears. “You’re not really here.” He chants it a few more times, each time getting a bit quieter as it does, until it turns into a whisper, and then nothing more. He just stands there, frozen, waiting for something to happen. 

When he turns around, he doesn’t seem to know how to react, eyes wide, not daring to breathe.

“Sungyeol, where did you—”

Myungsoo inhales, smiles, and turns toward the man. “You must be Sunggyu.” He says. 

“And you are?” Sunggyu walks right past him, not bothering to shake hands, but quicker to stand by the side of his husband. His omega.  

“You must have heard of me.” He answers; “But we were never properly introduced. I’m Kim Myungsoo. Sungyeol’s brother.” 

“Sungyeol’s brother died—” Sunggyu glances at Sungyeol, but it seems like the matter is confirmed if only by his expression.

“Still very much alive.” Myungsoo returns. 


	2. Sungyeol

The manor Sunggyu had bought for him - for them and their future family - is made out of exquisite granite, has a large lavish garden, and a winter greenhouse. 

Sungyeol hated it. Hated how far away from home and father it is, how strangely bright it feels. Everywhere he looked, there was a servant or a maid, waiting for him to puke out a command, watching his every move and listening to him breathe. He was no longer expected to do anything around the house or supervise anything; that’s what the butler was for. He didn’t need to look after anybody, either. In the festive case they should have any kids, Sunggyu had already picked a few nannies, that would make sure their child has anything he wants. All he had to do is to be kept. To smile, and to make easy friends, and host parties. 

To be the perfect omega. 

Sungyeol had hated it before, hated being born on the lowest part of the food chain, and Myungsoo - Myungsoo never thought of him as different from himself, but Myungsoo was dead, and this was the part he had to play in order to survive. It was exceptionally effortless. So easy that Sungyeol didn’t know why he’d ever deny his social status, or why he’d meddle into father’s business, or why he’d ever want to be Myungsoo’s equal. Alphas have it hard. Omegas - not so much.

So eventually he the house grew on him and liked how all the windows were always opened. How bright it was. How many people were inside. The pastel gardens at the back and the peaceful location. 

No more gloom and no more darkness. No more the filth of the main street. No more secrets. 

He was free. All he needed to do is to fall into the place that was designed for him. He didn't need to be strong for anybody. Just to be happy and to smile. 

“Seems like Myungsoo repurchased your old family home.” Sunggyu says as he loosens his vest.  “Just what is he planning to do with that rotting building. I should have had it condemned long ago.” He throws the letters onto the stand, before he sits by the table. 

The servant brings him a fresh warm napkin to clean his hands with. 

Another servant opens the dish for him.

Sungyeol pretends he didn’t hear it, like he pretended he didn’t hear any of the news about Myungsoo for the past few days since the funeral. 

Next week, they will read the will, and he hopes that Myungsoo won’t be in attendance. He never really liked political games, he always wanted to cut to the chase. He was never interested in the inheritance either.  He just came back to torment him. There is no other reason. 

Sunggyu takes his fork and knife, but doesn’t eat, just stares at him. 

“Are you really not going to say anything? About your brother’s return? I thought you used to be close.”

“I buried my brother.” 

“But he’s alive.” 

“ _ My _ brother,” Sungyeol cuts off a piece from the steak, a bit too aggressively, “is dead.”

The point comes across because Sunggyu doesn’t say anything for a long while and starts eating. 

“You must be still in shock.” Sunggyu decides, finally. “Perhaps it’d do you well to visit him. Or maybe he to visit us. It’d be rude if we only see him next week when they’ll read the will.” 

Sungyeol raises his eyes at him from his plate. 

“He won’t set a foot into this house. This is  _ our  _ house.” 

Sunggyu looks up to frown at him, so Sungyeol continues eating. He shouldn't have said that last bit. 

He sips from his wine.    
“Why are you angry at him?” 

Sungyeol isn’t sure himself, so he doesn’t answer.

“Why did your father exile him? What did he do?” 

Sungyeol takes a longer sip from his wine. “Father didn’t exile him.” He corrects; “He sent him beyond the wall to find a good spot to mine for diamonds. Our mines were all dried up.” 

“No, no. I recall… you told me that your father  _ exiled  _ him. You used this exact word. I remember I was surprised you’d use that term, considering you wouldn’t go out of your room for 3 months after he was pronounced dead. I thought you'd die in that room.”

“He told Myungsoo not to return without the diamonds, and he never did.” Sungyeol puts his utensils down and gets up, the chair scraping loudly against the wooden floor behind him. “I have to finish the invitation letters by tomorrow, so if you’ll excuse me.” 

Sunggyu looks a bit puzzled by his behavior and Sungyeol hates to be the cause of that expression on his face. They promised nothing would come between them, and they will not keep secrets from one another. Sungyeol had mostly kept true to that promise. 

But this secret was there long before Sunggyu. Long before Sungyeol even knew how to keep secrets. This secret he will take with him to the grave. 

He stays up long after his usual bedtime. 

Mijoo comes in, and Sungyeol can tell she is tired, and mostly worried for him staying up this late. He orders her to go to sleep, then sits there at the windowsill of his favourite drawing room of the house. 

There are 4 candles in the room and a fireplace burning, but outside, you can’t see anything but darkness.

But he still stares into it until it’s dawn. Waiting again. Waiting for the darkness to form into a face. The shadows of the past finally returned to take him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for this week! hehehehe
> 
> *Chapters will be smaller, but they'll be posted two at a time (one from myungsoo's pov, one from sungyeol's), unless one of the chapters is awfully big. It might make the chapter length vary, but I find it more intersting?
> 
> Lol hope you like it so far, this is just the start... and also happy new year and happy comeback to us all! :D


	3. Myungsoo

6 years is a long time to be gone, but not long enough to fall out of love with Sungyeol.

He’s wearing the best suits money can buy him, now. Nothing too flamboyant, but definitely not humbled down, either. His hair is meticulously styled, no doubt by a band of servants, no longer messy and wild. 

But despite the change, he is still the most beautiful creature Myungsoo had ever seen. He’s always been different, prettier than all the other omegas, all the lords and ladies, and no duke or countess, or even the queen regent herself could ever compare to him. 

So naturally, along with that beauty, came the suitors. Everybody and their father had their eyes on him. Everybody would orbit around him, sniffing the air rudely, and ask to dance with him in every ball and every galla. It used to drive Myungsoo up the walls with rage. He could get angry at every touch, at every glance. He couldn’t even control himself. 

Sungyeol is the type of omega that would make the most indifferent alpha look up. There was just something about him, something that would make heads spin, and tongues roll, and knees buckle. He was hard to ignore, and even harder to resist. He always got his way. On his command, they’d walk on all fours, and snort like pigs. And he would do just that. 

Oh, and what a tongue he had on him.

He could fit the most vile words in a sweet whisper. He spoke what he thought, honest to the bone. As all his suitors soon found out, he was hard to keep up with, and had they come unprepared, they’d be left speechless and humiliated. He learned how to behave coy only later, when he understood it could work for his favor, when he learned how to play nice to get things going his way faster. 

Nobody would ever scold him for anything. Father would bark at the nannies if he’d see a wobbling lip. Proper omega behaviour was lost on him too, he could do whatever he want in his home anyway. Spoiled rotten. Others would find it disgraceful, but for Myungsoo - for Myungsoo it was just right. Just perfect. 

And now - now he was no longer a child. No wobbling lip. And the longer Myungsoo kept his eyes on him, the harder it was to look away. 

He had became to something unearthly. Ethereal. Heavenly sweet. Like water in the desert. 

Like the sun, like the moon. 

And Myungsoo missed just watching him breathe. Even that he did with a certain degree of wonder, as if the way his chest rises and falls is of the sort of miracle as a doll coming to life.

6 years is a long time to be gone, and he learned a lot outside the walls. He sold his soul to the devil and his eyes to the crows. He was beaten by savages, and tortured by ghouls. Starved, drowned, whipped for information. Everybody that had a  _ body _ , wanted inside. Except Myungsoo himself. He wanted to keep Sungyeol safe. Sungyeol was safer away from him. Away from his madness. Slowly but surely, the madness started to show. He shed his old boyish skin.  He was no longer that Kim Myungsoo, of his father’s crest, the one that lived inside. He was Kim Myungsoo of the trees. He was Kim Myungsoo of the river. He doesn’t belong inside the walls, now more than ever. 

If before it was because he wasn’t born to the correct women, if he was a mistake that came to hunt their father, the mistake that became the Alpha son Sungyeol never got to be, the heir his father might have hoped him to be - now it’s because he is no longer human. Something in between.

And this place - there is nothing more human than Homestead.

6 years is long, too long, too far away; he thought he outgrew him. That he had let him go.  They’re brothers, by father. Blood of blood. Sinful even in the parts which he called home.

Sungyeol deserved to be happy. Sungyeol deserved to be away from him. 

But something ugly comes out the minute he sees him. Something wicked. 

And Myungsoo just needed a reason to stay a bit longer. 

So he could look at him some more. 

Old habits, die hard. And some never die. He finds himself following Sungyeol from the moment he steps out of his carriage and goes about his day. Eating lunch with friends. Going to suit fitting with his handmaid. And then he goes home, and another day starts, and Myungsoo finds him with an ease in the city center again, visiting parks and going about his business. And it’s hard - so hard to stay away. So hard to let him go, now that he’s seen him.

He keeps waiting for a sign, for a warning label, for a reminder that there’s a reason he kept away from these walls for as long as he did.

On third day Sungyeol is at the market, and Myungsoo’s control slips. He can’t even keep distance, and Sungyeol notices him, but walks right past him.

“You do know father was poisoned, right?” He follows him.

Sungyeol is looking at a fur rack in the market, and pretends he’s deaf. His jaw clenches, though. He didn’t know. 

“Strychnine. Small doses over a large period of time. Probably two years.”

The servant beta that accompanies Sungyeol looks fairly uncomfortable, but more attentive than Sungyeol is. She’ll probably report all of this to Sunggyu in the evening. 

Myungsoo is fine with that. He has nothing to hide. 

“He must have been in agony for months, while you were busy bedding this husband of yours.”

Sungyeol turns to him sharply, and Myungsoo waits for it, for the explosive reaction, but it never comes. 

“You hated father when he was alive. You’d often plot on killing yourself. Now you’re suddenly concerned, after he went mad after your death.”

“He wasn’t mad. Strychnine in small doses acts as a hallucinative agent.”

He swallows thickly, and continues, in a calm tone; “Are you sure you didn’t take some yourself?”

“I had him examined.” 

“Bullshit. He was buried the day you arrived.” Sungyeol seethes, and continues down to the next stall. Myungsoo follows him, smiling. That sounds more like his Sungyeol.

It’s loud here today, louder than Myungsoo remembered it. Everybody are shoving something at him, begging him to buy.

He catches up to him when he’s standing next to another stand; “I paid a good coin to two gentlemen to dig him up from the shallow grave you left him in. And then another coin for a doctor to examine his body. He didn’t take very long to determine it; you didn’t even perform an autopsy, did you?” 

Sungyeol clutches onto his hand and drags him to an alleyway. Myungsoo forgot how dirty the capital is. There’s shit smeared on the walls, and it smells like piss. Mud all around them, and filthy children running about. How could they live in such density? The conditions are horrible. 

Myungsoo will never be able to get used to it after the vastness of the wilderness beyond the walls. Once you’re far away from the wall, there’s nothing for as long as the eye can see. 

“Mijoo, turn around.” Sungyeol orders, looking straight at him.

“Sir—”

“I said turn around. And cover your ears.”

She nods, though reluctantly, and does what told.

The second she does, Sungyeol slaps him.

Not playfully. Any harder, and his jaw could’ve dislocated from the force of the blow.

Even though Mijoo covered her ears, she still jerks in fright. You’d have to be totally deaf not to hear that. Some of the children play at the end of the street, stop to look. 

“Is that what you came looking for, Myungsoo?”

“Not exactly, but it’ll do.” Myungsoo rubs his cheek. “Who poisoned him?”

“Nobody poisoned him. I’m not going to play into your little mystery novel. He died in his bed, begging me to call his dead son back into the room.”

“Why didn’t you?” 

“Because you’re dead.”

“You speak of me as if I am still dead.” 

“You are. To me.” 

“If you called me, I would’ve came back. I would’ve heard you on the wind. On the leaves. In the water. But you never did.”

Sungyeol assess him for a moment, looking up and down; “Father was mad. And you came back mad, too. Would you perhaps have me send a horse with a letter? A raven? A dove? Where to? They wouldn’t be welcomed in hell.” 

He turns on his heel to leave, but Myungsoo clutches onto his hand. 

“If I am mad, then I was mad before I even left, because nothing could cure you from me. I should’ve realized this sooner.” 

Sungyeol doesn’t need to answer, just for a millisecond, his lips part, and his eyes glance down onto Myungsoo’s lips, and that’s enough of a confirmation. But he clenches his jaw again, and tears his arm out of his grip, and drags his servant girl by the arm out of the alley. 

Then he comes back, and slaps him again, this time on the other cheek, hard enough to draw blood on his lip. “Return to whichever hole you slithered out of, and never come back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooo friendssss  
> Okay, so I'll be updating later today too, and tomorrow to celebrate the return of the true kings to their throne, my six baby princes, my slayers, the one and only, INFINITE. :>


	4. Sungyeol

His father leaves him nothing. 

His will mentions him fleetingly; he is left with a few odd items, items that don’t bear any meaning, or connection between him or his father. Things that he has no use for.  It seems deliberate, done on purpose. Spiteful, stubborn,  _ cruel _ . 

It’s insulting, to say the least. 

Sungyeol tries to keep his head up high, when the commotion erupts in the room. Had Sungyeol and Sunggyu inherited at least some of it, Sunggyu was known to be rather benevolent, and was probably expected to pay up the entire debt. Except it wasn’t exactly so. The debt was big, and by the law of his majesty, the son does not inherit the father’s debt. This legal shield, along with Sunggyu throwing a few empty promises was supposed to buy them more time. Once they’ll reach a more stable position, it’ll be hard for the common folk to claim anything against them. It was too much, too big of a debt, and if they’d pay just some of them, the others would want their part too.

Sungyeol thought it’s for the best.

His father found the wrong time to die.

It gets so loud, that Sungyeol can’t even hear the lawyer hitting the gavel on the wood. 

They had gotten quiet only when Sungyeol had entered the room after Sunggyu, as if he was a lovely surprise they didn’t expect.

They threw the “My lord, Sungyeol,” or “You look fine today, sir,” and other empty pleasantries of the sort his way, followed him with their eyes like he’s prey, nodded and smiled at him, some even with their teeth missing. Some didn’t even bother changing clothes, and smelled of fish and gunk, other probably didn’t have any other clothes to spare. The place stunk. 

Sungyeol just wanted to get it over with.  

Now they no longer care of being courteous with the omega in the room, and they curse and point fingers and condemn his father to hell, as if he wasn’t there already, and the lawyer tries to read the rest of the will before they tear this place apart. 

Alpha Kim Myungsoo, his half-brother, younger than him by less than a year, a bastard whose mom neither of them even knew, gets everything; the land, the empty gold and diamond mines that nobody would buy when Sungyeol tried to sell them a few years back. He even gets the summer house next to the sea, and the debt. 

Sunggyu wants to leave as soon as the will is read, but Sungyeol stays rooted in his place. 

Myungsoo seems disinterested in everything besides Sungyeol. In fact, since he had walked into the room, he had not taken his eyes off of him. Sungyeol couldn’t even tell if he blinked.

Now he was no different than the other Alpha and Betas in the room. 

Just another pair of eyes. 

Sungyeol ignores him and holds his chin high. 

Beside the wound on his lip Sungyeol would take account for, Myungsoo looks like he’s already back to his old ways; a bruise on his cheek and a new cut on his nose. He’d been into a fight, even though he had just returned. 

A part of Sungyeol itches to ask, to know what had happened to  _ his A _ — and Sungyeol drowns down the thought itself before it infects the others, but it does anyway.

Back before he escaped, Myungsoo would come all bruised up home, most of the time. Maybe even wounded, sometimes severely so. Every other day he’d participate in fights, or dumb duels over him, as if Sungyeol needed his honour constantly defended. God forbid somebody would look funny at Sungyeol, he’d jump up and start making threats, rash and hot headed and stubborn like a bull. Like a firecracker.

While other teens from his academy had ran around looking for skirts and flimsy omegas or beta that would easily open their legs, Myungsoo was concerned with making sure nobody gets too cozy with Sungyeol. If it depended on him, Sungyeol would never leave the house, and all his suitors would be buried underneath the foundations.

Myungsoo gets up all of the sudden, and walks up to the stand where the lawyer was trying to make them quiet down and shoves him out of the way. They all accuse him of something, Sungyeol can’t even tell what, call him names. Myungsoo doesn’t seem like he minds it - he doesn’t even seem like he hears it. If it was Myungsoo from before, he’d already be punching holes in people’s faces. But not this Myungsoo. This Myungsoo is different. He takes the bag on his shoulder and empties it onto the stand.

Gold coins spill onto the wood, the noise of them slamming down the desk, ringing and hitting each other, simmers down the commotion in the room. 

“My father owed 1943 gold coins and 40 pennies. You would find in this pile 1943 gold coins, and 40 pennies. Form an orderly line, so Mr. Choi can give you your money.” 

Nobody moves for a long minute, and then Myungsoo says; “Form an orderly line,  _ now _ .” 

They start chatting among themselves as they move behind Sungyeol, forming a messy line. They whisper among them, asking where he got the money from, and Sungyeol would like to know that too.

Somebody gets out of the line, before the lawyer regains his wits, and marches up to the front. 

“What about what is owed to me?” 

He’s a beta, dressed in pale blue velvet suit, clearly either noble born or of money.

Sunggyu mutters something, then holds onto his hand; “God almighty, let’s just leave already. Quick, I’ll ask to prepare for a carriage.” 

“In a moment.” Sungyeol whispers back. 

“And who’re you?” Myungsoo still didn’t learn common courtesy, and perhaps never will. No wonder they are calling him a savage on the streets, now.

“My name is Nam Woohyun - or rather Kim Woohyun. And legally, I am your father’s husband. Your step-father.” He places a marriage certificate onto a table, and starts yet another commotion. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm super late with it... but yesterday I sorta... like there was infinite. and they were coming back. I lost it. I have no excuse.


	5. Myungsoo

Sunggyu refuses to be in the room while they discuss this.

He seems to know Woohyun, and Woohyun seems to know him, as he sneers at him as if he turned up triumph on an ongoing battle that they’ve led. 

He’s an actor in occupation. A beta that loves expensive wine and has a passion for scandals. Myungsoo knows the type. The academy was filled with them. 

Sungyeol insists that he had never visited the inside of the house, therefore the marriage wasn’t consummated fully, and is illegitimate. 

“It’s true that I didn’t visit your house, we’ve been married in haste near the northern wall, so you wouldn’t know nothing of it. But you will find that the certificate is valid. Your father was very paranoid, and I see why.” He gives Sungyeol a one-over. “He said that I should only move in once you are off and married - which you clearly already had, to probably the most despicable man in all of Homestead.”

“How dare you talk about my husband in such a way, when you’ve married a man who is two thirds your elder.”

“Age is but a number. You can send a letter to the church we were married under— ”

“No doubt it had been turned into a brothel since,” Sungyeol says, and Myungsoo snorts. 

“—I’m sure they’ll be able to confirm everything.”

Myungsoo grows impatient; “What is it that you want? Money? Land?” 

“Myungsoo!” Sungyeol bristles. “He doesn’t have the right to any of it. He’s just some common—” 

“Well, neither do you, so I am free to do what I want with it. Unless you are somehow married to me.” Sungyeol’s cheeks immediately color, but he looks more terrified than anything else, so Myungsoo adds; “And since that can’t happen, you have no reason to be in this room.” 

“I have the right to defend my father’s assets even if I have no claim on them.” 

Myungsoo mimics him, using an annoying voice, and Sungyeol pushes him; “You’re making a fool out of yourself, idiot.”

“Now, now gentlemen…” Their lawyer clears his throat, he’s a middle aged man, who looks even more confused than all of them by the situation. “Let’s try to find a peaceful solution to all of this.” 

“I want half of everything.” Woohyun demands, pauses and then rephrases himself; “In fact, I don’t need to want it. It’s already mine, according to the law of his majesty, the king.”

“Before you can make any claims, your documents will be checked by my husband’s lawyers.” Sungyeol decides. 

“Your husband’s lawyers will find faults where there are none. This lawyer is in charge of the will, so this lawyer will check them.” 

“Very well.” Myungsoo agrees before Sungyeol can say anything else. He would outwit them all, if given the chance to really think this through, and Myungsoo would rather make a point; “The house is being renovated, at the moment, it has fallen into a state of decay since my dear brother had left it to rot, but we will find a fit room for you in the meanwhile.”

“And my servant. He is due to be paid 50 coins for the past year he’s served me. That needs to be paid as well.” 

“I’ll see to it, too.” 

Sungyeol takes his coat and leaves with a slam of door. 

Always dramatic. 

Myungsoo follows him into the now empty hall. There’s not a single penny left on the table, and no one one to claim his debt. But if there were, Myungsoo would find more coins to give them. 

He grabs onto Sungyeol’s hand again, but he shakes him off; “Don’t you touch me.”

“Or what? What are you going to do?” 

“I can’t stand being near you.” 

“But I can’t stand being without you.” 

“6 years, Myungsoo. You’ve been gone for 6 years. You can stand being without me, time proved so.”

Myungsoo shakes his head; “Every minute was painful. I kept away thinking it’d be better for you— ” 

“You know nothing about what is better for me. Nothing. And nothing in that house - in fact nothing at all, belongs to you. You left us.” 

“But you did quite well with me gone, didn’t you?” 

“Do you want to get slapped again?” 

“If that’s what it takes to be touched by you.” 

“What do you want, Myungsoo? Why did you return? Did you not torment me enough?” 

“I wanted to see you.” 

“Well, now that you have, you can leave.” 

“Not without you.” 

“So you’ve come to take me with you. Back to hell. Where we both belong.” 

“Hell is everywhere, Sungyeol. It is both inside the walls as it is outside of them. It’s not how people describe it, out there. It’s not different. Men are vile everywhere you go. I thought after what I’ve seen, I’ve changed. Matured.” He pauses; “But it did not cure what I feel for you. Nothing can. So I’m not leaving without you.” 

Sungyeol studies his face for a moment. “I have built a life here. A good life. A stable life. With no secrets.”

“I  _ am  _ a secret. Or does your husband know about us?”

Sungyeol doesn’t answer, but he’s expressive, always been, and his emotions are always laid bear on his face.

“Are you happy with him the way you were with me?” Myungsoo can’t help it. Can’t control it. He can barely control it during the night. 

“We were children, Myungsoo! Kids! We thought everything was final, everything was forever—   _ The way I was with you _ \- everything seemed like a game until it wasn’t. And then you just disappeared and left me to deal with the consequences.”

“Do you love him?” 

Sungyeol glares at him, then turns to leave, but Myungsoo blocks his way; “It’s a simple yes or no question.”

“Everything is very simple to you, isn’t it, Myungsoo? Always has been.” He pauses, and Myungsoo can almost hear him saying a nickname to tease him, he can tell by how distant his eyes get that he remembers, remembers everything, and it hurts him, but he pulls himself back from it, and looks at the ceiling for a moment, before returning his gaze to him. “Black or white. Real and fake. Life isn’t like that. It’s not all final like that. You come back here, making loud claims, as if I’m the one who's at fault for betraying you. So let me make it very simple and clear to you, my life no longer revolve around you. I did what I could in order to survive and I am not ashamed of it. I’m white. You’re black. We don’t belong together. You’ve lost your right.”

Myungsoo tries not to smile, but can’t help it; “So many words. And yet you can’t answer my very simple question. Do you love him?”

“My answer won't make a difference.” 

“It will to me.”

“Why? What will it prove? Do you think I still love you?” Sungyeol lets out a weird bitter chuckle; “You’re delusional. Find help.” 

“That’s not even how you laugh. You could’ve put some effort for that fake laugh.”

“Fuck you.”

“I was gonna. Eventually. Once you figure yourself out, and realize you made a mistake and return back to me.”

“A mistake?” His voice turns low, and he squints at him, and now he’s actually angry. Not even angry, he looks furious.  “What would you have me do? Huh? Father was going mad. He’d talk to the fire. He’d talk to the air. When it was foggy, he’d run around the yard, playing hide and seek, looking for you and me in the mist. He’d speak in languages that no one knew and do things that would leave the doctors puzzled. Every day they’d come knocking on my door, like predatory birds, demanding to know who is going to pay his debts. Who will take care of the factories. Who is going to take responsibility. Nobody would even consider me as the heir to anything, because I am  _ but  _ an omega. And what an omega I was; no prospect and no suitors.”

“You could’ve waited. For me to come back home.” 

“You were dead, Myungsoo. You were proclaimed dead. One of them said he saw your body. We put a stone on an empty grave. In the yard. Father wanted to see it beneath his window.” Sungyeol snorts; “But I waited. For 5 years, I’ve waited. Our uncles looked away from us. Our cousins looked away from me. I didn’t have no one beside Sunggyu.” 

“You should’ve waited a bit more. You knew I was alive.” 

“No.  _ You  _ should’ve returned. Sunggyu was always nothing but kind to me. He was a good friend.” 

“A friend with ulterior motives.” 

“A friend that was there when you weren’t!” Sungyeol’s voice is high pitched and his face is red. “Don’t you dare preach to me about what I should’ve or could’ve done. Hell knows where you’ve been for six fucking years; hell knows what you’ve done instead of coming back  _ for me _ . You think the house is rotting? I was rotting from the inside while you went on your little exploring adventure.” He shakes his head, as if he disagrees with something he thinks about, but didn’t quite voice out; “I want no part in your sick childish games or your future. Am I clear?” 

“So that’s why you’re mad? Because I didn’t come back for you?”

The door slams, and they both turn to Sunggyu already standing in the foyer. “Is everything alright, Sungyeol?” 

“Yes.” Sungyeol wears his hat. “I was just leaving.” He smiles to Sunggyu; “Did you already catch a carriage, my love?” 

Sunggyu seems to want to say something, but holds himself down and says; “Yes.” 

“Good.” Sungyeol walks past him. 

Sunggyu stays there for a moment, looking after him, until the door slams after Sungyeol, then turns to squint at Myungsoo, as if to assess him, before he leaves too. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay friends. :>  
> So... next chapter will be much longer... Sorry the first chapters are kinda short, and I know it might be confusing at first so I apologize.   
> Anyway, feel free to ask me anything, I almost always reply. :)   
> And those who already left replies, thank you so much for your support and love, I read everything and I'm really really happy that this is getting even the slightest attention! I know it's quite unusual and definitely not what people expect from me, but bear with me, please :) Thank you!


	6. Sungyeol

A letter arrives. 

His handwriting didn’t change at all. 

Sunggyu is sitting on the armchair by the fireplace with a book, and Sungyeol can hear his own heartbeat in his ears.

“ **Dear brother,** ” The letter starts; “ **I have reopened father’s offices under the guise of pretending that I will start a trading company. The renovation of the house is complete. Come for a dinner party at home. I’ve missed you.”**

Sungyeol writes back the next day, when Sunggyu goes to work. He paces around his room for half a day, reading it again and again, feeling like he’s in the midst of an outer body experience, but then he wills himself to think about the grave in the yard, and the six long years Myungsoo was away in, every single day of them, and the rage and anger comes back; “ _ I will not come under any circumstance, not even under the threat of my death. Do not write letters to me and do not call me your dear brother. Where have you gotten the money from? Who did you kill for it? _ ”

Sunggyu is just leaving for work on thursday when a reply arrives, and Sungyeol pretends he doesn’t care until the door closes. Then he’s rushing back to his chambers with the letter crumpled messily inside his shirt, greeting the servants as he goes.

There’s a black velvet pouch inside the sealed letter, but Sungyeol doesn’t open it until he reads it;  **“Very well, I will not force you. Due time you will come back to me of your own free will. You can marry however you want, and pretend you have no love for me, but you still belong to me. I am your first and your last.** ” He feels the pouch, but already knows what’s inside. A diamond. It’s heavy in his hand. Had the post known what it is, they would’ve tore the letter to shreds and became rich overnight. It’s so terribly clear and sparkling, even without a polish or any work, that it almost illuminates the room. It’s rather big too.  Bigger than any diamond Sungyeol ever saw before. Except perhaps on the queen regent, herself. 

He hides it inside a locked jewellery drawer, at the very back of it, wishing nobody will ever think of looking there. 

“ _ Look at the nerve of you. You really have gone completely mad. _ ” He writes back; “ _ You have found the diamonds father wanted, but with how carelessly you act with your money, it is only time before you are completely broke, and you will crawl back out beyond the walls, where you belong. It is good that you’ve left, because it has awaken me from a long childish trance I was under. Do you not realize yet the depth of our sin? Or is everything still a game for you? I implore you to snap out of your haze. _ ”

“ **Father sent me away after he found out about us, telling me to return with something impossible to achieve had I truly wanted you. I’ve sold my soul for devil so I could return for you. Is that not enough for my redemption? You’ve always been incredibly hard to satisfy. What is it that you want? Name the price of my forgiveness.** ” Sungyeol burns the letter after he reads it.

He doesn’t want to answer, at first. 

There’s nothing he wants from Myungsoo. 

But there’s this childish urge, a need to have an answer ready, an itch he can’t satisfy. 

“ _ The moon _ .” Is the only thing Sungyeol writes in the letter back.

A reply doesn’t come the next day, nor the day after that, not even on the third day. Sungyeol finds himself looking at the clock, and asking a servant for the mail. Twice. Then he feels foolish to have gotten wrapped up in it, it’s just been too long while since he has anticipated anything, at all, and of course it’s his damned brother that brought back all those traits in him that Sungyeol had long left behind. 

On tuesday, he goes out with Sungyoon and Daeyeol for a walk around the park. His aunt’s son and his spouse had been married much longer than Sungyeol have been, and their bickering amuses him. 

Sungyoon had issues with fertility and was told he might not be able to conceive, since pretty early, despite being an omega. But he and Daeyeol made it against the odds, and had a child, a few years back. Sungyeol had only learned about it from letters; back then he was overtaken by grief, and wasn’t able to function. It’s a surprise he didn’t end up in a madhouse.

Recently they moved to the capital, to give Bomin, their kid, proper education, and Sungyeol had found great companionship in them, and pleasant conversation. The lords and the ladies of the capitol had a stick up their butts, and a pleasant conversation to them would be gossiping about who bedded who and when and why - not that Sungyeol would ever say that outloud. How improper. An omega needs to keep that sort of thoughts to himself. 

Their kid, though - their kid is a real miracle. A beautiful baby boy, bright for age, and so playful. Sungyeol wanted to like him, he really did, but it was hard. Harder than he thought. 

So he’s wary, the way he is wary of all children, and prefers to see them without the boy, so he’d rather go out with them at mid-day, when the boy is with his nannies and tutors. Perhaps he is even more wary of him than other kids. Daeyeol and Sungyeol - they both looked more alike to one side of the family, much like father had been, but their son… their son had gene. The noble nose, and the catty smile. Sungyeol couldn’t even bear to look at him, because of his resemblance to Myungsoo. 

And despite it, the kid is fond of him. Lord knows why.  So fond that Sungyoon begs Sungyeol to come see him playing the violin, otherwise he wouldn’t shut up about it. Sungyeol agrees, but already plans on writing a quick apology letter once he’s back home. 

Donghyun is waiting for him at the door, perked up, though; “Sir, the post came.” 

Sungyeol nods, and takes off his coat, terribly slowly, waiting for him to leave. 

“Weren’t you waiting for the letter?” He continues. 

“No. Thank you, Donghyun.” 

Donghyun nods, but looks slightly dejected, because he was probably hoping to get some sort of expression of approval, a pat on the back, or perhaps even a coin for being so informative and helpful. 

Sungyeol doesn’t open the letter. He lets it sit on the stand, and stares at it, unable to focus on any other task. Then it’s late, and Sunggyu is back from work, deciding on dinner, downstairs, and Sungyeol has to find out what he wrote before he goes to sleep.

“ **Is that all? You’re letting me off quite easy. I’ll get you the moon. But as you know, dearest brother, nothing taken but paid for. So for every single night, once the sun sets, you are mine to take until dawn.** ”

Sunggyu enters into the room after he reads the last sentence for a third time.

Sungyeol jerks out of his place, crushing the letter in his hand out of instinct. “You frightened me,” he accuses, hearing nothing but his own heartbeat, rabbit quick in his ears. 

Sunggyu snorts, unbuttoning the cuffs on his shirt; “Frightened you? What could possibly scare you in our home?” 

“Nothing,” He stands up, and inhales, trying to sound not too shaken. “Just. Surprised. I didn’t hear you come in.” 

Sunggyu’s eyes narrow only slightly. He’s not easily fooled. Sungyeol is the fool here. 

“I’ve seen you busily corresponding with somebody lately.” 

“Yes, it’s …” A lie almost comes out. An elaborate one, about Sungjong, Sunggyu’s baby omega brother that still lives with his parents back in North-east Homestead, expensive gifts, and a new suitor whose advances Sungjong found distasteful at best. Sungyeol decides he’s better than that. “It’s my brother.” He admits, then immediately regrets it, because the relaxed expression on Sunggyu’s face becomes guarded. “Your brother?” His tone is calm, but higher than usual. “Have you two finally made up? You seemed quite angry at him last time you’ve met.”

“No - it’s just…” Sungyeol crumples the paper in his hand further, until it becomes a ball. “Gibberish. He’s unwell. Like father was - he’s… He shouldn’t be allowed to write letters, or to hold a pen.” He throws it into the fire, before Sunggyu will ask to see it.

Sunggyu stares at the burning paper, and Sungyeol feels his entire insides burning up. 

He turns his eyes back at Sungyeol, and raises his chin a bit; “We should visit him.” He says; “He  _ must  _ be unwell after what he’s been through. Two assassinations attempts within a week. There must be quite a price on his head.”

“What?” If he was feeling hot a second ago, now he’s cold with sweat. He can feel the hairs on nape stand. 

“Oh, you didn’t know?” Now it's Sunggyu’s turn to play stupid, but his tone gives him away. He’s just being cruel. “It’s all people ever talk about now. A lone mercenary before we read the will; Myungsoo nailed his arm with a knife to the wall, right in the middle of the main street. They found him like that - just hanging there, not alive nor dead, with his guts spilled out all over the pavement.” 

Sungyeol sits back down onto the armchair. 

“And a few days ago, a band of goons - this time Myungsoo was too gracious to leave them alive. Considering what he’d done with their bodies - maybe it’s for the best. They have a name for it, don’t they? Behind the walls. What was it? Skull-eater, or something ridiculous like that?”

Sunggyu looks at him expectantly, waiting for a reaction. 

He’s not going to have a fainting spell, or even pretend to be ignorant, he knows the word well; “Death-bringer. That’s how they called him back in the academy before he was expelled. He never lost a single fight or duel. Blew up the officer quarters, when he suspected one of them had his friends killed. Everybody knew it was him, but nobody would testify against him.” Sungyeol snorts. “He’s always been… hot-headed. The other alphas would just stay clear of his path.”

“But you wouldn’t.” Sunggyu doesn’t seem happy about it.

“He’s my brother.” 

“Half-brother.” Sunggyu reminds, as if it’s somehow relevant. “There’s other nasty little rumours. But surely you’ve heard it.”

He probably expected Sungyeol to ask, because he couldn’t wait to know. Sungyeol knows exactly what type of rumours would surround his brother. 

The reason why all his suiters would just run away with their tail between their legs, the reason why he was expelled. They had a clinical term for it, too. Sociopath. They tried to stick him with all sorts of names when they were growing up. Because he never played by anybody’s rules. Because he had his own skewed sense of justice. Because he was different.

It wasn’t like that, though. He was cruel because everybody were cruel to him. Nobody gave him any expectation to rise up to. Nobody expected anything from him. They all saw a bastard son that will never be missed. 

But Myungsoo - Myungsoo wasn’t that. He could be different - he is different, if you’d just let him. 

He could be soft. Tender. 

At least… he used to be. 

“You know I hate gossip.” Sungyeol stands up abruptly, and helps Sunggyu out of his vest, quick with the strings on the side. 

“Yes, I know. I thought they were silly, anyway. The way gossip are. The things people make up when they see something  _ frightening _ . They make him sound like he’s some sort of a demon. Either Way, he is human after all, despite what the rumour mill has it for him - he collapsed yesterday from multiple stab wounds during some hearing.” 

_ Good _ , he wills himself to think.  _ Serves him right. _ “He always been weird. A weird boy. And then a weird adolescent. And then a weird man. He’s not all that frightening in person. He’s just… hard to understand. But he has been dead to me for a long time now. I do not wish to visit him, unless he’s on his deathbed, and even then, only if I have nothing better to do.”

“He might be on his deathbed as we speak. I heard there were doctors coming in and out of that house.” 

Sungyeol knows it’s not so. If Myungsoo was truly dying, he’d feel it somehow. 

The first two years after he left, Sungyeol was the one who was crazy. He’d constantly fantasize about Myungsoo coming back for him, especially considering his condition. He was sent away from the capital, to hide his shame. After he returned, he didn’t leave the house. When they pronounced Myungsoo dead, and brought in a witness, Sungyeol would fight about it with father endlessly, begging to wait. Just a bit longer. Just a little more. And then father became delusional, slowly, at first, and before Sungyeol knew it, he was completely unhinged, and needed constant care. Then, the only one who needed convincing, was him. He needed to believe Myungsoo is dead, because that was the only thing that would allow him to live in peace with himself, to move on. 

Either way - If he’s able to write racy letters about  _ taking him _ all night, he’ll live to see another day.

“How do you know all this?” He asks instead, folding Sunggyu’s vest into a neat square shape and sets it on top of the cabinet. 

“That  _ buffoon _ , Nam Woohyun, was gloating about it all over town, as if it is something to be proud of.” Sunggyu seems amused by this alone; “I bet he’s already planning to sink himself down Myungsoo’s cock as we speak, the way he did with your father.”

Sungyeol smiles courtly, if only because he knows Myungsoo isn’t easily distracted with omegas or betas unless it’s specifically Sungyeol.

He waits for a week to write another letter, which he assures himself would be the last one. 

“ _ The arrival of letters at this address does not go unnoticed. I’ve had enough with your nonsense. I will burn any letter that will come through my doorstep without opening it. Save your ink and your words to another omega. I am happy with my husband. Let me go. _ ”

After that, there’s a certain amount of relief in Sungyeol, as if he had closed off a phase in his life, that is until Wednesday. 

On wednesday, it’s sunny, so he goes out in the morning with Mijoo, and only returns much later from a late lunch with Sungjong.

Sunggyu is standing in the living room with a letter in his hand. 

He doesn’t need to see the content to know that it’s from Myungsoo; the black wax seal on the envelope makes it obvious. 

Sungyeol swallows a large lump in his throat, but pretends he didn’t notice; “Your brother will never get married at this rate,” He keeps his voice steady; “Nothing satisfies him. All his suitors might as well start harvesting the stars from the sky in order to impress him.”

“A letter from your brother.” Sunggyu waves the letter, pretending that Sungyeol didn’t say a word.  He doesn’t remove his eyes from the letter, as if he’s trying to comprehend a difficult text. Sungyeol rakes his mind, trying to figure out what Myungsoo could’ve possibly written there, after being warned that their correspondence had been noticed. 

“Oh? Another one?”

Sunggyu finally looks at him and Sungyeol smiles; “Sungjong is spoiled rotten. Some of it may be my fault - it seems like he keeps excusing my late age to marry as an example—”

“Don’t you want to know what is written in the letter?” 

“More gibberish, undoubtedly.” 

“ **Even if you will not reply to my letters, you will still read them.** ” Sunggyu reads out loud before Sungyeol can even stop him. “ **Because you are more curious than vengeful, your hunger for exploring stronger than any whim. The mere thought of my letter probably makes the blood in your veins pump faster. He can’t see you for what you truly are, but I have. Do you recall the day father hosted the Brigadier for a dinner party? Father was sure by the end of the evening you shall be engaged. You said you are scared of him, and I made sure he would leave with his balls still attached to his body, to compensate the fact that he’s leaving without your hand. If at sixteen I was able to scare off an alpha who had led people into war, rest assure, I am not easily deterred, nor do I easily retreat, not regarding anything that concerns you** .” 

Sunggyu finishes, but still won’t look away from it, as if it might provide some more info between the rows. Sungyeol steels himself by taking a large inhale. He will have to lie his way out of this one. “As I said, my brother came back only with half of his wits. Just burn the damn thing and let’s have dinner.” 

“The way he phrased this is peculiar. **Because you are more curious than vengeful... Your hunger...** **I am not easily deterred, nor do I easily retreat...** These do not sound like the words of a madman. He’s quite well with his pen. Rather, he seems to be confusing you with a lover.” 

“He’s confusing me with a lot of things. He’s deranged.” 

“This part is curious, too.  **He can’t see you for what you truly are** .”

Sungyeol shrugs and goes about his normal routine when he comes back from somewhere, taking off his coat and hat, and handing them to one of the servants. 

“Who is  _ he _ ?”

“I don’t know, Sunggyu.”

“I think he meant me.” 

“You don’t know that.” 

“Why would he think that I don’t see your true self? Is there something I don’t know about you?” 

Sungyeol looks back at him, and sighs; “My love, why try to make sense from the words of a madman?” 

Sunggyu nods, but from his expression he doesn’t seem to buy it. He throws the letter into the fireplace, and Sungyeol tries not to show his relief. Sunggyu walks past him toward the hallways; “Perhaps that’s so. But you’ve never called me ‘My love’ before.” 

“I did,” Sungyeol insists, but avoids his eyes; “You probably just didn’t notice.” 

“Donghyun.” Sunggyu calls out, and the servant boy peeks into the room, always ever present. 

“Yes, sir?” 

“From now on, every letter that arrives to this address goes through me first. Regardless who it’s addressed to.” Donghyun frowns just a tiny bit, but nods, head bowed down. “Unless, of course, my husband is against it?” Sunggyu turns to him, once again, waiting for a reaction. 

Sungyeol snorts, as if this amuses him - and it should, Sunggyu had never been jealous before - and makes his way down the hall to have his dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WAH  
> Lol here's a big update for ya'all :)   
> Sorry for the delay!   
> Will gladly answer any questions/etc if you have any both on twitter or anywhere :>


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